Wednesday, May 06, 2009

CS. Canadian Venture Exchange CDNX is slowly coming back from its Total Collapse last year. A lot of Dreams without any substance have or will vanish, those with goods in the ground and Team above it - to develop them, will prosper - if they will have access to the capital. It is a cherry picking game as we always told here. Bargains are still there - you have to find them among the rubbles> This Blog is a Diary of our journey and maybe some Common Sense techniques and observations will help you to enjoy your own as well. Do not forget, please, in order to enjoy it you have to prepare for a long way, study maps and start your own trip, based on your own conclusions and ideas where to go. We all lucky that we have a few respectful guys, who already travelled and are sharing with us their experience and travel ideas.

We are following Peter Zihlmann for a number of years already from almost the beginning of the recent Gold Bull market. His observations are always based on the big picture and providing very important insight in particular companies. He still processes that special Swiss attitude to value of things, from times before UBS (Used to Be Smart) decided to beat the Wall Street.Orko Silver OK.v is one of promising silver plays with Pan American Silver PAA.to J/V on its "La Preciosa" silver project.

"Peter Zihlmann: Junior Gold and Silver Miners a BargainThe Gold ReportWhat to buy - gold or gold shares? While many argue that bullion is the better investment, Peter Zihlmann of P. Zihlmann Investment Management makes a compelling case for gold shares with a focus on junior miners. In this exclusive interview with The GOLD Report, Peter explains how gold shares have actually outperformed the yellow metal at a ratio of 5-to-1 since the start of the bull market.The Gold Report: In Sierra Madre Gold & Silver Fund's Q1'09 quarterly statement you state, "Junior gold and silver mining companies are at bargain levels." Can you talk about your outlook for gold, and why you think the juniors are bargains?Peter Zihlmann: Gold and gold shares do not move in a parallel fashion. Sometimes gold is leading, and at other times the gold shares lead. Gold shares over the long term show a far better performance than the metal - in fact, since the start of the bull market, gold shares have outperformed gold at a ratio of 5-to-1. We not only believe the long-term up-trend for gold is positive, but also that technical indicators for equities are improving and indicate a heavily oversold market.The HUI Gold Bugs Index, which represents a portfolio of 15 major gold mining companies, recently dropped to its 2002 level, when gold traded between $250 and $350, but has since regained almost 115%. Gold stocks are now outperforming gold; however, many companies are still trading for the value of their liquid assets.We are not surprised that the gold shares are moving up strongly, outperforming gold, because they had fallen to an unrealistically low level based on their outlook for earnings, production or reserves. Gold and silver shares were sold indiscriminately when the financial crisis erupted. Sellers totally ignored the fundamental aspects in selling their shares; they just needed to raise cash.The NAV of our Fund, The Timeless Precious Metal Fund, increased 1.0% in April 2009. The price of gold went down 3.2%, while the price of silver receded 4.2%, respectively. I think it is significant that the NAV of the Timeless Precious Metal Fund, which seeks out junior miners to add to the portfolio, went up in April while the majors represented by the three indices dropped by about 8%. This shows that the juniors have been catching up. However, many still remain at their 2002 level, even though the price of gold has increased by 250% and the price of silver by 175% during the same period.TGR: Why do you focus on junior minors instead of major producers in your portfolio?PZ: Juniors have more price appreciation potential compared to majors because it is easier for them to increase reserves or resources, while the majors struggle to replace what they produce. Majors are expensive, too, because the juniors are too small for big institutions to buy them, so the big money goes for the majors. As a junior grows into a mid-tier, more big money can invest in them.TGR: There are several junior miners in your portfolio. What are your criteria for including companies in your funds? And what's the difference between your two funds?PZ: Other funds often invest in physical gold or major companies. Since it is easy for an individual to buy physical gold, he does not need a fund to do it for him. It is also easy for anyone having an interest in this sector to buy a few major stocks. It is difficult, however, to put together a portfolio of juniors for many reasons, including lack of funds for proper diversification, lack of time to select and follow companies, no personal access to management, or no possibility to visit mine sites.What are our criteria in selecting companies? We believe value is created through discovery of mineral deposits and bringing them into production. A large portion (80%) of our Portfolio is composed of producing companies, companies approaching near-term production and companies that have already drilled-up a significant resource (1 million ounces to start with). These latter companies have decided not to go into production, in spite of having substantial mineral reserves. Their aim is to prove up a substantial resource in the hope that one of the majors will take them over - at a substantial premium to the cost of exploration.TGR: As a European, do you believe your investment strategy is different from most North American fund managers?PZ: It may be that North American funds concentrate more on North America. On the other hand, one of our funds, The Sierra Madre Gold and Silver Venture Fund, concentrates on companies that only have properties in Mexico, one of the highest rated mining countries in the world.TGR: I see you own companies with properties in various jurisdictions. Do you look for companies in specific countries, or is it more about management, or simply ounces in the ground?PZ: Management is of upmost importance because good management can obviously manage all the risks associated with mining. For example, there are lots of ounces in the ground in Africa but we tend to stay away because of the political problems. One company, operating in Tanzania, was recently victim of an armed robbery.TGR: Can you give us an overview of your favorite companies?Orko Silver Corp. (TSX.V:OK) - has been steadily increasing its silver deposit in Mexico and has drilled up a resource of more than 200 million ounces of silver and it keeps growing. Their recent agreement with Pan American takes away many of the funding risks that a company that is not in production has. And Coeurd'Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) recently completed the purchase of Palmerejo for US$1.1 billion and paid $4.45 per ounce of silver (Ag-Eq oz). We believe a share price four times higher than the present will become reality one day.

Other companies are recommended by Peter Zihlmann, but we do not following them.

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SRSrocco reports on further deterioration of the COMEX Gold inventories available for deliveries. You can guess who is taking now a...

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Dedicated to all those brave men who have been fighting the bear market in 2000 and buying the dips without understanding that they were looking straight into the abyss. Do not trust your money in anybody, for you are the one who is going to be rich or poor, not those that are advising you: always do your DD. Disclosure: We are putting our money where our mouth is.